Not long ago, the CEO of a well-known IT company told me over coffee about losing a woman on his executive team who got hired away by another firm. The CEO (let’s call him Dan) explained that this female executive had been the “voice of the customer” for the leadership team, and had recently told the group that their key customer was unhappy—yet no one had listened to her. In fact, a fellow executive team member suggested that her assessment was off-base, as the company’s sales figures for the previous quarter were in good shape. But he was wrong and she was right: not only did the company experience a regrettable loss of their key client, but this important customer ending up taking their business to a competitor.

A common ritual for many at this time of year is mapping out important goals and resolutions. Our roles and responsibilities as leaders call for a strong level of energy and endurance, as well as the capacity to stay consistently focused and intentional. In SHAMBAUGH’s coaching practice, we work with leaders who strive to be productive and visionary, but also creative, innovative, authentic, and balanced. That’s because emotional stability is closely connected to all of the other leadership traits, and impacts the quality of our interactions with teams, colleagues, and everyone who depends on us.

It requires a healthy mindset to lead both within and with others. While IQ is important for effective leadership, you can’t neglect your emotional quotient (EQ), which correlates with your lifestyle, health, and wellness. Translated, leadership is not just about doing, but about being. It is critical to bring a high level of mindfulness to your leadership practice every day—for your own well-being and that of others.

About a year ago, I sat down over coffee with the CEO of an IT company. The CEO – we’ll call him Robert – shared with me that his organization had been the market leader in their industry for the past five years and had enjoyed consistent growth and profitability. Their success to that point, he believed, was based on their leadership and their employees’ sheer drive and relentless focus on key results.

Yet despite their past success, Robert confided that he had deep concerns about the company’s future. A competitor with a creative, new technology had recently overtaken them as the market leader, and he had just learned that they had lost one of their key customers to this competitor. To make matters worse, the organization’s most recent employee survey revealed that morale was low, people were burned out, communication was lacking and employees had lost faith in leadership.